I have created a chrome extension to learn English that build a dictionary with source/translation, etc.
Now, I want to send this "file" (I will/would build a "file" with the dictionary entries) to Google Drive and use this file in my Android app.
But I want to save this file not on my personal Drive account, but in the Drive of the current user, the user who uses the chrome extension (if this user has a Drive account, of course).
In all the examples I found, they define the OAuth for "my" account ("my" = the chrome developer in the manifest.json, so, static).
Is there a way to save in the drive of the user?
Use the 'chrome.storage' API to store, retrive and track changes to user data.
Please refer to the link:
https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/storage
Related
I have an extension in Chrome Webstore I would like to download original files that used to be uploaded. Is there any direct way to download it straight from the store, since I am the creator and I do have access to my account?
You can download the current / past version of an extension on https://chrome-stats.com/. You can also just inspect the source code directly on that website.
I am trying to modify a small thing from an extension. All I basically need to edit, is the selector they use. If their selector is $("#firstDiv") I need it to be $("#secondDiv"). It is really that simple.
I downloaded the CRX file, extracted it, made the edit, but when I go and install it in my browser, it asks me to authenticate with Google Authenticator. Just like it's supposed to do, as it uses oAuth 2. HOWEVER, once I log into my Google account, it will not "save" the login. Right after I log in and press Log In, the tab closes and launches the same login page again on another page.
Is it possible to change that somehow? I found a semi-workaround. If I install the extension, authenticate with Google, then go make my edit in the extension folder, it works perfectly. However, I cannot send it to someone else, because the manifest.json includes my authentication key (392 characters long).
How can I modify the extension to my needs? Is there something I need to know about Google OAuth?
EDIT: Okay, I cannot even download the .crx file directly from Google, unzip the file, then move the files into a new folder, and install that script. Exactly like it came from Google. Are their .crx files signed? Is it impossible to do this?
When you download the .crx file, extract it, edit it and install it, its extension id is changed from the original one(this is the reason you are getting login page again and again). Now, client id used in extension is valid for only the original extension id. Thats why when you install it from web store it works fine because it retains its original extension id.
Solution :
You must retain the original extension id to make it work. First download crx viewer(very helpful for extension developers)
After installing crx viewer, navigate to your extension from web store. You will notice a page action(icon at the end of url). Click it , then click view source. New tab will open, then press f12 and check the console, you will find a "key" value. Copy it. Now go to your extension page again and download the extension as zip(from crx). Extract it and open its manifest.json file and paste the "key" along with value.(This step is necessary to retain extension id). Now install the extension from chrome by enabling developer's mode and clicking load unpacked extension and selecting the extracted extension. It should work now
Is it possible to retrieve the computer name when developing a Chrome Extension, for example "Jenny-PC"?
At first glance I did not find the API, but maybe I missed something.
If you are quite the daredevil, you could try to extract that info from a NPAPI plugin. This is quite dangerous, as you can read more about on the chrome extension site
No directly, for security reasons extensions can't access OS services.
But, hacker way, you may find some odd way to get what you're looking for.
If your extension has file:// permission, it can read system configuration files.
If you can get the user drop some file containing the name you want on some receiver in your extension's page, you can read it with HTML5 FileReader object.
If you can get the user download and execute some script you wrote (for example a .bat in Windows), it can grab that name and send to the extensions in various ways:
- writing it in a file the extension can read
- executing something like
"c:\chrome install folder\chrome.exe" chrome://extensions/yourextensionkey/receiver.html?name=thenameyourellokingfor
About file:// permission
Chrome Web Store doesn't allow uploading nor publishing extensions with such permission. But the extension works if you install it as a developer, or as .crx .
I'm not sure, but I think you can upload it to Chrome web store modifying it, in order to ask for permission.
Integrating a chrome extension(not hosted) with google drive seems to be not possible if I am correct. Is there a way to upload content from 'localstorage to google drive in a chrome extension?
Can the depreciated documents list api be used to do that? if yes, how?
For example, user has some data in the localstorage of the popup.html page in the extension. User would want to backup that data in his google drive. How can it be done from a chrome extension with no hosted page.
Thanks in advance.
You can upload files to Drive using JavaScript. Check the step-by-step quickstart guide for JavaScript to learn about it, you will have to change the code in order for it to read from localstorage instead of the filesystem:
We have a Chrome Extension application that we have developed and would like to distribute it only a limited number of internal users.
This would be a private app, but to install it, users now have to follow the manual steps of going to Settings -> Extensions -> clicking on Developer mode -> drop the .crx in there.
I would like to know if there is a way to just have private App Store to privately distribute this app and not have it on Chrome Web Store for anyone to see/download/use.
Thanks for your help in advance ---
You use the Chrome Web Store. 2 options are available:
Share an unlisted Chrome extension from the Chrome Web Store (anyone with the link will be able to install it)
Chrome customers using G Suite or Education can use the Chrome Web Store to host private apps restricted only to their users on the same domain.
See https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/2663860
Update 2016-05-20: From https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/2663860?hl=en
Chrome customers using Google Apps for Work or Education can use the Chrome Web Store to host private apps restricted only to their users or people who you share a direct link to the app with. Users from the same Chrome domain will see their organization's private apps in a private collection in the Chrome Web Store.
Update 2015-10-27: Google has updated installation policies in attempt to curb malicious extension activity on Windows. On the chrome extension hosting page:
Warning: As of Chrome 33, Windows users can only download extensions
hosted in the Chrome Web store, except for installs via enterprise
policy or developer mode (see Protecting Windows users from malicious
extensions). As of Chrome 44, no external installs are allowed from a
path to a local .crx on Mac (see Continuing to protect Chrome users
from malicious extensions).
With the latest versions of Google Chrome, users are no longer going to be able to just click a download link and have it install with the correct HTTP headers. This leaves you with 4 possible options:
user downloads extension and then drags the file into the extension management page (This no longer works on Windows per update note)
change registry settings on users computers
user downloads extension source folder and loads extension from source in the extension management page
Re-enable extension installs with command-line flag as suggested by Rob W
I have created and distributed several different Google Chrome extensions privately within my company and went with the first option. It is an extra step for the users but it wasn't a big deal. The users did not have to have developer mode enabled in their Chrome browser for this to work.
Yes, you can. You need to create the crx file through the google chrome "Extensions" page (visit: chrome://extensions/ NOTE: You cannot click the link you have to manually copy and paste it, chrome does not allow you to visit the link from href)
On the Extensions page, check the box "developer mode", choose "pack extension".
Now you get the following popup. Click "browse" for the Extension root directory and navigate to the folder containing your extension (the folder containing manifest.json).
The first time you do this, ignore private key file. It will generate one for you automatically and save it to the same folder.
When you release a new version of the extension, use the generated private key file. This way for someone to update the extension, it won't ask for permissions again.
TO INSTALL
To install the extension, just get each user to manually drag the newly created extension crx into the Extensions page (chrome://extensions/).
The first time it will ask for permissions just like when installing from the Chrome Web Store.
For each new version, as long as you used the same private key file for each new version, users just drag the new version into the Extensions page the same way except they won't be asked for permissions again. It will just update the extension.
WARNINGS:
Beware the way you distribute the extension crx file. When user downloads the extension .crx file in Google Chrome, it will think you're trying to install the extension from that page, and come up a warning "couldn't be installed from this site". You need to make sure that users know to ignore the error, and check their downloads folder for the extension to manually install it.
Whenever you download the .crx file, Chrome will give the user a warning saying it might contain a virus. There is no way around this. Even if you zip up the file, Chrome will read the contents and give the same warning. Some users won't install because of this. A workaround is to rename the .crx to something else, like .RENAME_TO_CRX, but this is a hassle and a lot of users either won't want to or won't be able to figure it out.
You can't update the extension automatically. It's just not possible because Chrome manually blocked this capability.
NOTE: Another way would be to release it on the Chrome Store, but only for certain users (not public). Only people with the link could install, OR you could make it only certain people can install and even if you had the link but weren't part of the group, they couldn't view the extension. Only problem here is if you don't want Google to see the extension.
If you use Google Apps, it appears there's now a way to publish apps and extensions to the Chrome Web Store, but only make it visible to users of that domain.
https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/2663860?hl=en
Since its internal, could you change registry settings on their computers?
Because if so, you can use them to allow easy install of extensions from outside the web store or force install extensions on their machine.
Look here....
http://www.chromium.org/administrators/policy-templates
http://www.chromium.org/administrators/policy-list-3#ExtensionInstallSources
http://www.chromium.org/administrators/policy-list-3#ExtensionInstallForcelist